Into the Void
by Misty G Fox
Summary: previously written under the penname babykitsune-9. It's the same story, just being redone. Sorry I haven't gotten to any good chapters yet
1. Chapter 1

"My lady, come on, we have to go." The Anbu wearing the jet black mask, her companion and friend, the last of his clan-Shikamaru Nara, said as he knelt down to pry her bloody fingers from the shirt of her dead husband. Her heart aching in her chest, she fought back the fresh wave of tears threatening to spill forth and took a shuttering breath as the male carefully and gently pried her fingers from Kakashi's body.

He was so beautiful, even with the stain of crimson marring his perfection in death.

So pale, his once soft pink lips tinged blue, his mis matched eyes, those eyes that she had loved so damn much staring blankly ahead, little riverlets of red staining the corners, looking like tears. His soft silvery hair curling slightly around his cheeks, the damp strands clinging to his cooling skin.

She stared blankly at him, feeling like her heart had been ripped out, it hurt. It hurt to breath. _Your having an anxiouty attack, just try to breath._ But it was so hard-she had loved him so much. It hurt to think, she couldn't think; it was only natural for someone who had lost their beloved one.

Shika glanced at her from the eye slits in his mask and growled, it was no good.

She had gone far away from him, from the pain, from the village that needed their Kage so desperately. He gripped her hands a little tighter, just a little worried that she wasn't trying to fight him to grab hold of the only family that she had ever known. He could hear the people screaming in the distance, knew that they were being cut down in the streets.

The Akatuki had gone too far this time.

Sauske, had gone too far this time.

Naru's face was pale even under the blood stains where she had put one of her hands against her cheek, a nervous habit that she had developed as a child to make herself feel like someone out there in the world had loved her enough to bother and touch her once. Her soft blond hair was stained pinkish copper on both sides of her head where she had gripped her hair and started to pull it out as she cried.

He was vagiuely aware of the flames rising in the room around them, the smoke coming up to choke them and was momentarily distracted when he heard a popping sound over head. He wrapped his arms around Naru and threw them both to the side as a beam fell from the ceiling and landed on top of Kakashi's body, oddly enough that got her attention. She let out the most agonising scream he had ever heard and tried ot sqramble across the burning floor to her dead husband, he managed to grab her ankle as she reached out and put her hands against the burning wood and tried to get it off of Kakashi, burning her hands in the process.

"Damn it Naru." He growled again as he yenked her violently back towards him and grabbed her shoulders and shook her and roared, "He's dead! We have to go!"

"No, no, no, no, no. He isn't dead! He can't be dead!" Pain did funny things even to the greatest of people, he grimmly mused as he looked toward the door, he could hear Sauske's voice outside. Calling her, if she werre still with them she would have fought. She would have won, but Shika could already tell that she was'nt with them anymore. Her struggles to free hersefl from his grasp were too weak, her breathing too labored.

She coughed up blood on his shirt and he plaed behind his mask.

He had known that there were advantages and drawbacks to mating a Hatake, it looks like the drawbacks were winning this time. She was dying. Again this was natural. Hatake had loved her so much that he had bound their souls together both in life and death. The moment that he had died, she death had been imminent.

"Oh god, Naru..." He breathed as the horror of it all sank in and he tried to think, he grabbed her, scooped her up in his arms like a small child and looked around, there was no point to hiding her. They would probably die here today anyways, but at least they would be in good company. Right?

He looked out toward the window of her office as the glass shattered and the flames leapt higher, he could see the village, like Naru's home, hopes and dreams it too was going up in flames. He could see the broken and dead bodies of everyone he had ever fought with, been friends with, and loved. All of them were gone now.

Sweat ran down his face, his long dark brown hair slipped free of the rubber band holding it back and he shifted his hold on Naru, she was slipping farther away. He ripped off his mask and finally managed to think of something that he could use to take her from this place of pain and death. Perhaps he could even save her, though he dared not let hope blossom in his aching heart. Because if his plan failed and she died anyways then he would truly be alone.

He took a deep breath, as deep as his burning lungs would allow and focused, gathering the shadows in the room and outside in the once peaceful inky darkness. Calling them to his side.

This was a forbidden jutsu. One that people had killed for in the past.

He would have killed to use it sooner.

He pictured a place in his mind, the leaf village. His home with it's large buildings, the stores in the shopping district, the tower. And the people- god all of the countless thousands of innocent lives- all of them alive and well, his heart suddenly slammed against his ribs painfully as he felt Naru's body go completely still and limp in his arms as she stopped breathing.

_Hurry. _

No, it was'nt over. She couldn't die this way! He wouldn't let it!

I have to protect her, He thought as he pictured her smiling face from the first day at the ninja acadamy. She had been so innocent then, so sweet...

_Hurry. _

The shadows gathered at his feet, wrapping around his ankles and climbing higher like vines of darkness, creeping across his skin. So icy and cold, he gritted his teeth as his eyes flashed a pale glowing blue and the light from them illuminated the room, his chakra flaired, driving the flames back, changing their color to deep green with dark blue-

**_Hurry._**

The door across the room came flying at them, he jumped out of the way easily, still cradling his Kage in his arms as he built the steadily growing power sizzling in his veins. Sauske stepped into the room, a smug look on his face and looked at Naru. "Aww, gone already." Bastard, didn't even look sorry for all the pain and death he had brought to the girl's door.

Finally after what seemed like forever the shadows began to swirl at his feet and he glanced at Sauske, his pale glowing blue eyes reflecting his barely leashed rage.

"I'll be back for you, mother fucker. And this time...you will die." Shikamaru said coldly as he stepped off into the darkness and fell into the pit that he had created leaving an shocked and angry Uchiha yelling curses at his back as he fell, his arms tightening around Naru's body as they fell into the bleak and unending darkness...

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Here we go, part one of my new story. hope that you like it.

There will be some shika/naru action from time to time, but essentually it is a kakashi/naru story so bear with me.

The ages are

Shika-17

Naru-17

Past Kakashi-18

expect some really neat stuff. as always, read and tell me what you think.


	2. Chapter 2

It was cold wherever they were.

Much colder than he anticipated it would be when they hit the ground. There was several moments of disorientation as the shadow's that had helped them escape vanished and he was laying on a carpet of pure white, icy and cold snow. He pushed himself up into a sitting position and looked around. They were in the woods of some god forsaken place that he didn't recognize or seem to know right at that moment. Though there was a slight tug of familiarity tugging at the back of his mind. But he simply couldn't name right at the second. He glanced down at the woman, half lying on top of him and gathered her body as close to his own and started to cry despite the fact that common sense told him not too. The tears would just freeze.

Gone. They were all gone. Naru. Choji. Neji. Iruka.

His father and mother. Kurinai and her son, Asuma Jr.

There was nothing left of his village, or his people to keep him grounded. The despair he felt was overwhelming.

Oh god why?

He cradled Naru's body and was only vaguely away of the slight rise and fall of her chest, the faint pulseing of her heart in her chest, the slight, soft warmth of her body. To be perfectly honest he was in mourning. In mourning for the woman, his family, his friends. The ones who had meant everything to him. To them both, that at first he simply didn't notice anything except the cold and freezing winds, the way his teeth were chattering as he curled his body around Naru's vainly hoping against all odds that she was alive.

He said a silent prayer and cupped her cheek in his gloved hand and tilted her head slightly and froze when he felt the warm moistness of her breath against his finger tips.

What the hell? He shifted his hand and laid his fingers against her pale throat, her heart was beating. It was just a bit weaker than it should have been but it was there. Inhaling sharply he settled her in his lap and used one arm to hold her partially upright as he quickly checked her pulse again before realization slammed into him.

Dear god she was still alive! His plan had worked! The jutsu had worked! "Naru? Naru? Open your eyes. Come on open..." He shook her gently, his actions becoming a little more frantic as he shook her, for a second or so he started to jerk her body back and forth like a rag doll, tying to wake her.

She didn't react, just laid there unconcious. _Dammit, you stupid girl!_ His mind roared frantically as he recalled that when a person fell asleep in the cold, hypothermia and death occure. He had to find shelter, and warmth or she would die for sure this time. "Hold on, okay Naru. I'll find us someplace-" He quickly unzipped his vest and shrugged it off and wrapped her in it, the fabric practically swallowed her whole, she looked like a little doll to him. He gritted his teeth and growled, he _hated_ it when she looked this damn fragile.

He stood up on shaky legs and looked around, it was the middle of winter; too dangerous to leave her on her own when a wild animal could come across her and eat her, he would simply have to carry her until his body gave out. He looked around and tried to recall if he knew the area that they were in, and after a few seconds he realised where they were. There were at the Iwa border. Just between fire country and...

He remembered going to there on a mission once and taking the time out to relive the past when he came to a large set of ruins, it had once been a base for the Iwa ninja when the leafe and Iwa had been at war. He took a minute to get his bearings and took off running, adreniline pulsing through his body as he ran mixing with his fear. He had to get Naru somewhere safe, he just had too.

She was all that was left of their village hope, if she died, hope itself would die and he would be left with no purpose in life except to kill. It wasn't that he minded that, personally he had done much worse since the start of the fourth great shinobi war. But he didn't care to do it needlessly. It was too wasteful. Too wanton.

Too..._cruel_.

He reached the place he had been heading too and stopped cold when he noticed that there was a large building there, not the ruins that he recalled, there was a large wall and a pair of massive gates, there was a group of five nins standing in front of the gate watching for something.

Intruders? Spys? Rogues? What the hell were they looking for?

He looked down at Naru and gritted his teeth in annoyance, her breathing was a little more labored than it had been ashort time ago and he could feel her body temputure spiking through his vest. She was running a fever. A dangerously high one.

He put her down for a second, ducking down behind a tree when one of the nins looked in his direction and started to strip off anything that looked remotly Kanoha related. His ninja head band, his gloves (well he put those in his pockets) he ripped off the leaf village patch on his shoulder, he didn't have to worry about his Anbu mark since Naru had given him a different type of mark around one of his hands.

A black and royal blue dragon shaped tattoo that wound around his palm, and worked it's way up his right forearm, stopping just shy of his elbow. He glanced at Naru and looked over what she was wearing. A simple white long sleeved shirt over a black wife beater, a long black skirt with frills at the hem. He smirked a little bit. She looked like a civilian. Good. He would be posing as her rogue nin lover who had happened to come across some of the leaf nins trying to make sport of her. He killed them and brought her to the base for help.

He ripped the leaf partch off of her shirt and picked her up again and took a deep breath and tried to center himself. He would have to act the part of the worried lover. Not a hard task but not exactly easy either.

After he had worked himself up into a nice frenzy he stepped out from behind the thicket of trees and started to raise hell.

The group of men looked suprised and startled at first, until they caught sight of his current state of semi undress and Naru cradled against his chest. "Help. Please help. My girlfreind...she was attacked by leaf nins!"

One of the men stepped forward and looked them over his manner calculating, more so than Shika cared for, but he endured it. And let the man pat them down before saying, "Open the gate."

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Whoo, my head hurts... thank you for reading. and thanks to Yukihana Hisako for the title. keep reading, it should get really good in the next chapter.


	3. Chapter 3

It had been a week since Shika had passed through the gate's to get help for Naru and in that time he had been beaten, and questioned as a spy.

He had stuck to his story beautifully and in the end was offered a job working with the Iwa nins at the base as a torture and interigator. It wasn't difficult work, he had been taught by the masters of pain and phycological damage. His parents, Ino and Sakura, and he had learned everything that they had taught him, very, very well.

He was on his way to interogate a captive. And stopped by to see how Naru was doing since she hadn't completely recovered from her sickness even though she was no longer running a fever and was able to sit up for a while and eat normally, her state of health still concerned him. He wasn't sure what else to call it since there was no traces of a cold or flu or virus in her system, as far as he was concerned she was merely suffering from the stress of falling through the shadow portal that he had created. He figured that the only reason he hadn't lost conciousness and started running a fever was because he was used to the inky darkness and everything that came with it.

He opened the door to her room and smiled a bit when he saw her sitting up in the bed. "Shika..."

"Hey, how are you feeling?" He asked as he slipped inside of her room and firmly closed the door behind him and locked it. He didn't want anyone trying to come in unnannounced like some of the Iwa nins sometimes tried. He hated the way that they looked at Naru, which was part of the reason that he had asked to be the one to care for her personally, he didn't want some dick head to put his hands on her and try to take advantage of her.

She looked around a bit and grimanced when she saw all of the flowers in the room. He had beep picking the wild winter flowers native to the area to help brighten up her room and make her feel better. The white, soft pink and pale blue flowers ranged in size and scent. He always put them together by scent, thinking that she would appriciate the smell of the flowers over the stench of blood, rot and the decay of corpses.

"This place looks like a funeral parlor."

He grinned a bit as he walked across the room and sat down on the edge of her bed. "Yeah, sorry about that. I didn't think you would like smelling some of the stuff around here so I went just abit overboard."

"_Overboard_. I think you passed that and went into _overkill." _Naru said as she looked at the flowers taking up every corner of her room. They were every where! Even on the ceiling and on her bed! _Where the hell did he find all of them? _

Shika smiled at her and reached out and put his hand against her cheek, still warm but not dangerously so. _Good, she is getting better._ He had been worried for a while there. "Where are we?"

"In Iwa."

"And the village? Did anyone get away?" Naru asked as she stared blankly at him. He flinched and bit his bottom lip for a second then replied.

"Yeah. Someone got away." It wasn't exactly a lie, but it wasn't exactly the truth either.

Naru nodded her head in acceptance and looked like she was about to cry. Acting purely on instinct he pushed her back onto the bed so that she was laying down and pressed his mouth against her forehead, then her cheeks. "Don't cry Naru. Please...it breaks my heart when you cry." He said softly as he buried his face against the curve of her throat.

Naru lay perfectly still unable to speak. Her chest ached more and more with every beat of her heart. She should'nt be alive. She knew that, it was one of the total and absolute's of the world she existed in and yet she was. Part of her was relieved, because if she was alive, then her husband was probably alive too. Another part of her knew that that was'nt right, Kakashi was dead, and she was alone again.

She wanted to scream. To cry, but there were simply no more tears left to cry.

She felt Shika's breath on her skin and shivered. She didn't understand exactly what had happened, or why she was still alive. But it was obvious to her that Shika knew what was going on, why she was alive, and how they had gotten to Iwa among some other things. The problem was that he refused to tell her anything just yet. Choosing instead to simply tell her that he would tell her as soon as he figured things out a bit more, and nothing else.

But she did know one thing, even if Shika wasn't telling her anything.

He was scared. Very scared, and was deathly afraid that she was going to disappear. It was why he had stayed with her while she was unconscious, why he had slept next to her in the bed every time he needed sleep. He didn't want her to disappear and was trying to assure himself that she was still with him.

Shika didn't move, really why should he want too? Naru needed him. Needed his stregnth now more than ever, and he had to make sure that he was there for her. "Shika...I know I'm comfortable and everything, but this feels weird." Naru said after a second or so and shived again when she felt his lips curve up into a smile against her skin.

"Are you saying that you want me to get up?"

"If you don't mind."

He chuckled but still didn't budge. "Aren't you used to me lying on top of you yet?"

"Sort of, but it feels kind of wrong to me...I am a _married_ woman after all."

"Yeah, sure I get it. I'll get off, I have to go do some work anyways."

"Are you coming back later?"

"Yeah, I'm locking the door behind me. Get some rest Naru." Shika said as he rolled off of her and got up off of the bed and walked across the room and opened the door and slipped out and used his shadows to lock the door behind him.

He walked down the hall to the prisoner's cells and stopped just outside room number thirteen. A lucky number...and yet someone had to be laughing at this poor fool since he was about to be tortured. He sighed and told himself that it didn't matter as long as Naru was safe. Any loss was acceptable. He opened the door and said a cheerful hello as he stepped inside of the room and looked over the tools that the guy before had left out for him to use.

He mentally went over the information that he had been given about the guy he would be picking apart and cringed.

**Age-18**

**Gender-male**

**Rank- Special Jounin/Anbu**

**Leaf village nin. **

**Subject was difficult to capture and contain. He's extremely strong and even more clever. Proceed with caution.**

He sighed and ran his fingers along the gleaming metal of the knives he was expected to use on the kid and wondered if he would really be able to do it. He didn't want too. Not if the kid came from what's left of his home village, but at the moment he didn't really see a way around it. Picking one up and tested the sharp edge and turned to look at the face of the kid he wouldn't soon forget and paled as he caught sight of a pair of angery mis matched eyes. And felt his heart stutter to a standstill.

It couldn't be. He thought it disbelief.

One dark blue and the other a deep red with little coma marks around the pupil, the kid was hanging by his wrists from a hook on the ceiling, his silver hair was a little bit longer, and fell to brush his collar bone. Some of the strands had been dyed a deep red by a bloody wound to the head. His chest, arms, stomach, and sides were littered with bruises and deep crimson lines from where he had been cut to intimidate him.

He'd seen him die! Shika's mind all but screamed as the glittering blade slid out of Shika's fingers and clattered to the stone floor as he muttered the young man's name almost experimentally. "Hatake Kakashi..."


	4. Chapter 4

The young man glared at him as if he'd like nothing more than to rip his head right off his shoulders. _Yup, _Shika thought in bemusement. He knew that trade mark glare and there was only one person in the world who could ever manage to pull it off. And he was staring at him. _Kakashi Hatake, _Naru's dead husband.

"Holy shit." Shika muttered in shock as he stared at the masked man he never thought he would see again.

Kakashi's mis matched eyes glared at him, screaming in defiance. Daring him to try anything, _anything _at all that the man could later kill him for. Shika simply gaped at him, dumbstruck, part of his mind cheering because the man was alive. And the other, more darker part of his mind snapped and snarled and swore, he was so distracted by his anger and rage at the man that he stomped across the room and punched him before he even realised what he had done.

The sickening crack of his knuckles striking the silver haired male's jaw nearly made him jump out of his skin.

Kakashi's head snapped violently to the side as he was struck, his entire body jerking right along with it as he tasted blood on his tongue and let out a low feral sounding growl and was punched again. "You son of a bitch. How dare you show up here." The tall brunette snarled at him as Kakashi turned his head back froward to face him, he hated this guy already.

"You hit like a girl." Kakashi said as his lips curled up in a feral smile behind his mask. The brunette didn't rise to his bait. He simply stared down at his hand as if in shock or something, his expression pained. _Aww, had the prisoner hurt the little fuckers feelings? _

He'd do more than hurt his feelings once he worked his hands free, this guy would be the first to die. He was going to rip out his throat. He was simply to dangerous to be allowed to live. The brunette looked away form his hand and gave him a bored look before he reached for the collar around Kakashi's neck and hooked a finger in it to draw the thing closer to the light since the lighting fixtures were fixed so that it casts dark shadows and shit everywhere.

It was part of the whole torture process. If you turned out the lights and beat someone, broke their bones, raped them and such then over time they would fear what they couldn't see coming. It was an effective method of dealing with already frightened people. Apparently the Iwa had decided to try it out on Kakashi. Naturally it wouldn't work on him, his mind was like a steel trap, and besides, Kakashi was an assassination specialist.

He knew what to expect once the lights went out. Not only that but he could see perfectly in the dark. "Sorry about hitting you, Kakashi." Shika muttered as he grabbed one of the smaller blades off of the table next to him, missing the dark and puzzled look on the silver haired nin's face as he used the knife to pop opent the control panel and studied it.

"What are you doing?" Kakashi growled, his mind kicking into overtime, telling him that one little adjustment to the chakra suppressor could really, actually _kill _him.

Shika glnced at the male and had to resist the urge to poke him in the eyes with his finger tips, as childish as the urge was, the man was watching him because he deemed him an enemy. That wasn't entirely his fault, so Shika spared his eyes and instead found a way to disable the collar as he answered the man's question. "I'm getting you out of here before someone decides to skin your sorry ass alive."

Kakashi considered the man for a second and frowned, he didn't sense any deceit, or lie of any kind.

Could he be a spy for the village? A double agent maybe? It wasn't everyday that one became a prisoner of war and was set free by one of the enemy. Sure there was the possibility that this was a trick of some kind to get Kakashi to trust him so that he could kill him later. And while that did cross his mind, he wasn't as worried about it as he should have been since the man was disabling the chakra suppressor.

He knew the exact moment that his chakra was no longer cut off from him, could feel it flooding his body, his organs, his bones, quickening in his blood. He took a deep breath and despite the fact that he was still in chains muttered a soft and somewhat sincere 'thank you'.

Shika looked at him again as he popped the front panel of the collar back on so that it would look like it was defective in some way and quickly went to work on the chains, using his shadows to corrode the chains until all he had to do was pull on them and they snapped, Kakashi's body fell forward against him as he grabbed the man's weapons, his dog tags, his back pack and his parka and thrust them against his chest and gathered the shadows together and activated his latest jutsu.

It was fashioned after the Fourth Hokage's jutsu, an instant way to appear at another place with in seconds no matter the distance.

Kakashi wrapped his parka around him and looked at the man as the darkness closed in on them. "How are you getting me out of here?"

"I'm taking you right to the village gates." Shika said as he grasped Kakashi's arm and stepped into the dark.

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Kakashi fell to his knee's and wretched, his body shaking with cold his mind just a bit disoriented. What the hell had just happened? "God, it feels like I was picked up and hurled around by a tornado.." He wheezed as he glanced up at the brunette. The man didn't look the least bit shaken by the experience of tumbling through some dark space. If anything he looked genuinely amused by the fact that Kakashi was sick right now.

The bastard.

"The leaf village's front gate are right through these trees. I trust that you'll be able to find them." The man said as he turned and started to walk away. Kakashi grabed a kunai and flung it at the guy, the blade thudded into a tree just inches from teh guy's left shoulder.

Shika turned his head a bit to look at Kakashi, wondering what his problem was now. "Where are you going?" The silver haired man rasped as his stomach finally started to settle.

"Back to the base."

Kakashi got to his feet and snarled at him. "No, your coming with me. Our Hokage may have questions for you..."

"Your Hokage can go fuck himself, and so can you. I'm not going with you...I have to return to the base."

Kakashi took a dangerous step froward, his hand going to his weapons pouch. "You coming with me to see the Hokage."

Shika gave the man a cold smile and dissolved into the darkness before he could react.

He reappeared in the cell that Kakashi had been in and quickly trashed the room to make it look like Kakashi had some how got the drop on him. Picking up one of the most dangerous looking knives, one with shark like jagged teeth on one side he used it to cut himself across the chest, applying enough pressure to make it look like Kakashi had tried to kill him, then used his finger nails to scratch his cheek, leaving bloody red welts behind before ripping off one of his shirt sleeves and doing the same to his arm. Making sure that there were long bloody claw mark welts running from his shoulder to his elbow then used the blade to nick the skin of his jugular just so before he stabbed himself in the upper thigh.

He hissed in pain as his leg buckled, oh shit...that hurt. Why was he doing this again?

To keep from being implicated as a spy.

Oh right.

He should probably finish up then. He gripped what little bit of the knife sticking out of his leg and cut his hand on it then grasped three of his fingers and pulled them back until they snapped, he bit his bottom lip to keep from making a sound as a fire ball of searing pain swamped his mind. But he wasn't finished yet. Crawling over to the wall he slammed his head against it until his vision blurred and he puked due to the wicked case of vertigo that had just developed along with his migraine.

He fell side ways onto the floor and did one last thing before slipping into unconsciousness.

He used his shadows to unlock the door...and to pull the lever across the room to sound the alarm.


	5. Chapter 5

Kakashi was greeted as he walked through the streets of his village with looks of shock, and happiness. Some were happy that he had returned alive and in relatively one piece. Others were in absolute shock that he had manage to escape Iwa. The reactions were the same when he walked into the Hokage's office where he could see his former sensei Minato going over plans with his father to launch a rescue mission to save him.

He stood in absolute silence, not moving, not even daring to breathe for several seconds before his father's head snapped up and he locked eyes with him. "Kakashi!" Sakumo all but yelled, Kakashi watched in grim amusment as Minato clapped his hands over his ears and tried to block out the sound.

Many people weren't aware of it, but Sakumo Hatake had a real talent for projecting his voice. Often changing it from it's normal soft velvety pitch to something that made one's ears start bleeding. It was how his father used to get him out of bed in the morning as a kid. Nothing worked better than the deafening sound of the person who had raised you. Literally. Sakumo stepped around Minato's desk and walked over to him and gave him a quick once over before giving him a hug.

Kakashi blinked in suprise at the action and suddenly felt very uncomfortable. His father had'nt hugged him like this since...well he was a baby. "Hi, dad."

"How did you escape?" Sakumo asked curiously and Kakashi bit the inside of his cheek to keep from muttering curses about his 'new friend' and his parentage. Really, the guy was a bastard.

"I was let go..." Kakashi said after a second or so of hesitation. Sakumo looked at him wide eyed. _They let him go... _

"Seriously?" Minato asked as he came across the room to study the younger Hatake too. His student looked to be in relitively good condition, aside from some cuts and bruises.

"Yeah."

"Why would the enemy let you go, Kakashi?" Minato asked as he looked the younger man in the eyes.

"I'm not sure...Fuck I don't even know the man's name, but someone on that base is posing as a spy for some reason. The spy is the one who let me go."

"What?"

"That doesn't make sense. Why would a spy be there?" _I don't remember stationing anyone there... _Minato thought as he looked away for a second, trying to recall anything that might lead to a spy being place in an Iwa strong hold.

"Did you bring him with you?" Sakumo asked excitedly, if the one who had freed his son really was a spy, then he could help them destroy the base and turn the tide of the war in their favor. Kakashi flinched and took a step back away from his father, the man had been spread pretty thin in recent months and he wasn't sure how he would react.

"I'm sorry dad, sensei. I tried to bring him here, but he returned to the base using a jutsu that I had never seen before. I can say this though, there was a note of urgency in his voice. He may be planning to take out the base himself..."

"Damn." Sakumo said with a heavy sigh. God that was depressing.

Minato said nothing for several minutes before finally saying, "We need to take out that base. And if at all possible, get into contact with the guy who helped Kakashi. If he's there posing as one of Iwa's nins, then there has to be a reason for it."

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Three days later-

Shika was still unconsious from the wounds he had recieved, and though he was expected to live, the Iwa nins had questions.

Naru had already been questioned about Shika's loyalty, and though they had no way of knowing that she had been lying to them she knew that once he was awake again it would be time to move on. It simply was'nt safe to stay on the base any longer.

She sighed and picked up a basket by the door to Shika's room and opened the door and looked up at the guard that had been placed there. The dark haired male smiled at her. "Going somewhere princess?" He asked curiouly.

Naru smiled at him as she recalled that he was the guy that had been trying to help Shika take care of her since they had arrived. Apparently she reminded the man of his baby sister, and as such he had all but attached himself to her side to keep her safe from the lust and violence of the other men on the base. Really despite what was going on, he was a nice guy and she liked him. "I'm going to go see if I can find some medicine for Shika's wounds. Do you know where I can find any willow trees?"

The man rocked back and forth on his feet for a second, "Willow tree's huh... I guess you would be able to find one outside the gate. But it's dangerous out there." He said gently as he looked at her then reached out and put his hand on top her head and ruffled her hair affectionatly. Reminding her of all the times Iruka and Jiraiya had done the same thing. Her heart aching in her chest, her smile faltered a bit.

"You okay princess?" The man asked as he let his hand drop to his side, he must have reminded her of someone that was'nt with her anymore, the look on her face had been so distant for a second there. She blinked and shook her head slightly and returned to herself and gave him a dazzling smile.

"Try not to worry so much, nii-san. I'm not scared of the big bad wolf." She said as she leaned up and kissed him on the cheek and walked on. She was half way down the hall when he finally called out.

"Be back in an hour, or I'm coming to find you!" He would never forgive himself if he failed to protect the blond girl, like he had his sister.


	6. Chapter 6

Several days later-

"Fang one in position." Sakumo whispered into his mini sized radio microphone.

"Fang two, good to go." Kakashi growled out, not the least bit happy to be back in the same area he'd been held prisoner.

"Yellow flash..."

There was silence over the radio for several seconds, then the soft whispered sounds of swearing could be heard before Minato came back over the radio and growled "Damn animals, crapping evereywhere."

"You stepped in shit again huh?" Fang one said in wary amusment. The man growled like a dog at him and he snickered. The trip to the Iwa base had'nt taken as long as they had thought it would since there was just six of them, and the fourth Hokage had thought it would be better to travel using his teleportation jutsu so that they could spend some time checking out the enemy base and watching their activities before they went in to destory the base.

"Shut up fang one." The Hokage snapped as he pouted a bit. Kakashi sighed and rolled his eyes. How Minato had become the Hokage was still a mystery to him. The man was so accident prone that he had almost fallen and broke his neck the very day he took office.

"Guys, get your heads in the game and stop picking on the _wittle baby_." Kakashi said in a bored tone, yet he was still unable to resist picking on Minato, like his father. Sakumo snickered again, and Minato started calling them names as some movement from the front gate caught Kakashi's attention.

"Minato shut up and look at the gate." Kakashi hissed as the gate swung open a bit and a small slip of a girl about Kakashi's age walked out with a basket in hand. The five guards all greeted the girl warmly and engaged her in conversation for several seconds before she waved to them and started walking towards the woods before one of the nins called out to her and ran to catch her.

Naru stopped when the guy called out to her and turned to see what he wanted as he jogged over to her and pulled a short sword from his own arsenal and a kunai and held them out to her. "The woods are dangerous this time of year. Take these to protect yourself since there might be enemies skulking around."

He handed her the short sword and it's sheath and then told her to hide the kunai under her skirt around her upper leg so that if the sword was taken from her or lost she would still be able to fight. Naru smiled at and took the weapons and slidded the leather strap attached the the sword sheath over one of her shoulders and stuffed the kunai in the wait band of her skirt under her baggy shirt, at the small of her back.

"Thank you. I'll return them to you once I come back." She said gently and the nin blushed and started to stutter that she could keep them if she wanted. She smiled and nodded her head and started walking again as he turned and went back to his post.

The leaf nins were all quiet as the girl started to walk past their hiding places, but for some reason stopped and looked around. Her ruby colored eyes scanning the area as if she knew that someone was watching. She looked up at the tree where Kakashi was hiding, up under the foilage and snow, his silvery white hair blended in really well. He had just as good a veiw of her as she had of the tree. But what was odd was the way her gaze shifted from his hiding place to his father's then Minato's and the rest of the team and he was starting to wonder if she could somehow sense them.

Because if so they would need to do something about her before they could destroy the base. Perhaps even take her back to the village with them and make her work for them sensing enemies.

Naru knew that someone was watching her right now, she had learned as a child to sense powerful chakra signitures as a type of defense mechanism. Something to help her keep track of the distance between herself and those who wanted to hurt her. It was one of the few reasons that she was still alive. It was a handy ability to have really, especially when she had become Hokage. It had helped her sense the approach of assassins and let her deal with them accordingly.

The only reason that it hadn't worked the last time was because in her mind, Sauske just wasn't a threat. A mistake that she wouldn't be making again. She must have stared just a little too intently because she felt someone's chakra flair in anxiousness before she started to walk again. This was getting intresting. It really was. Now if only Shika would wake up and make it even more intresting.

Her lips curved up in a feral smile. The nins would probably seek her out since she had given herself away, not to hurt her but to speak with her about her ability to sense them. That was fine, she could answer their questions as long as they kept their hands to themselves.

Minato was frozen, the blood in his veins turned to ice as the girl walked past him and let her chakra flare with murderous intent, a tactic to intimidate him he was sure. And sadly it was working. He had never felt so shaken and scared before. Whoever the girl was she was'nt a normal person. _Demon container..._ He gritted his teeth and shook his head no. There was no damn way that another demon container existed.

The only demon container that he knew of was his wife Kushina, and she was back at the village resting because the doctor had told her too since she was pregnant. And yet something about the girl he had just seen made him think-no made his mind scream out warnings. She was dangerous, yes that was true but they didn't know her intentions and that made them nervous.

The future of their village was at stake and if the girl had any valuable information then she might be of use to them in ending the war.

(************************************************************************************************************************************************************)

Shika groaned and opened his eyes and looked around.

Something felt off. _Naru..._ Where was Naru? Why wasn't she here? Shika wondered as he looked around the room, his head ached a bit from his wounds, but thanks to the healing knowledge Naru had his wounds had mostly been taken care of. So where was she?

Ah that was the question wasn't it. Knowing her, she was probably outside somewhere, which may be why he couldn't sense her very much.

_I have to find her. She may be in trouble, and knowing Kakashi like I do he's probably already back here with a team getting ready to take out the base. _And if they were already here getting ready to take out the base, and they found Naru...

Well it wasn't that he didn't trust his own people it was just that he knew some people better than others and right now he didn't trust anyone with Naru at this moment in time. Not even Kakashi. He closed his eyes and gathered the darkness around him, he had to find her before something happened to her...

Naru had just pulled a large piece of willow bark off of the tree in front of her and dropped it in her basket before turning back to the tree and applying some of her medical jutsu to the trunck where she had peeled off some of the bark and the skin under neath so that it would'nt get sick and die when she felt several people standing behind her.

"You're a long way from home shinobi-san." She said as she let her hands drop away from the tree and turned to look at them and felt more than just a little shocked at who it was standing a few feet from her. There in front of her, in the flesh was three people that she most desired to see again, but should have been dead.

Her husband.

Her father.

And her father in law.

_Oh dear god Shika, why didn't you warn me? _She thought as she stared at the three, almost gaping in shock. How was she supposed to act like a civilian when all she wanted to do was shriek with happiness and hug them?

Minato stared at the girl, up close she looked almost exactly like him. It was mind boggling that _anyone_ could look so eerily similar to him, yet the girl did. Her facial features were exactly like his own, they were more feminine and delicate but still like his own. He glanced at Kakashi then Sakumo, the two of them looked like they were in shock too.

Mentally shaking herself, Naru cocked her head as she looked at her father, her hero, her idol and forced herself to smile as she took several steps closer to him and then stopped. "You look shocked. Is my existance really that freaky, Minato-san? Or should I call you father?"

Minato paled as he continued to stare at her as a dark shadow suddenly rose from the ground and disappeared leaving a tall young man with glowing icy blue eyes standing behind the girl. And without a word the menacing figure wrapped his arms around the girl and dragged her back against him as he wrapped his fingers around her neck in a threatening manner. "What the hell are you doing leaving my side Naru?"

The girl blinked and looked up at the man and grinned happily. "Shika! Your awake."

"Just answer my question you troublsome woman."

"I came to get medicine for your wounds." Naru said innocently and Shika got the nagging sense that she had also wanted to escape him for a little while and get some air, he knew that he sometimes went over board in his efforts to protect her, but that was no reason for her to disappear on him. Shika looked from her to the three standing several feet away.

The two Hatake's, and Naru's father. What were they doing here? Kakashi he could understand, the man had probably come back to learn more about him. But the other two...

He had no clue what they wanted. "Fourth Hokage. Minato Namikaze. Husband to Kushina Uzumaki. This is an intresting turn of events, what are you three doing sniffing around my girl?" Shika asked in a low dangerous tone as he stroked Naru's throat with his finger tips as she tipped her head back to look at him.

Minato, Sakumo and Kakashi all tensed visibly. Who was this guy and why did he know about Minato and Kushina?

"Who are you?"

"Noone you need to worry about big guy, I didn't come here to fight. I just came to collect the princess." Shika said as he stared at the man coldly.

"Who is she then? She called me father." Minato said as he looked at Naru again. Shika glanced at the blond and wanted to throttle her. Leave it to her to inform her dad that he was her father without consulting him first. This could very well cause problems later.

"Her name is Naru. And can't you tell which parent she takes after just by looking, because if not then you have no right to call yourself a man."

"I thought that you didn't come here to fight." Minato growled at the man, not liking his tone. The guy just smirked at him. Obviously not bothered by his tone in the least.

"What village are you from?"

"The leaf. We were born there but moved away some time ago, before the war ya know." Shika half lied. Naru said nothing since he had his fingers wrapped around her neck again, squeezeing a bit to warn her not to speak. She'd always been a shitty liar anyways so there was no point in letting her speak at this point when he could lie for them both.


End file.
